Revolution
by notcreativeenoughtomakeone
Summary: When Bobby was on Quillan, he saw a little boy run away from the train station down the tracks. He knew there was no way the kid would escape. He couldn't deny the obvious. He should've. What he didn't know, is that he escaped.
1. Escape

_This is my first attempt at a Pendragon story. I love the series, I got book seven and read it the day it came out. Yes I have no life._

**I don't own... you get the idea.**

Have you ever found yourself running? Have you ever found yourself thinking, plotting to escape your fears, and your pain. That's a daily thing in my life. At age ten I ran. I finally cracked and said " the hell with this, I'm leaving." At first, I didn't think I'd escape. I knew deep down that the dados would catch me, put me in the line and send me to tarz. Little did I know, little did anyone know. I succeeded.

* * *

I guess it begins, with my father. Good honest hard working man. He works for blok. Hell everyone does. He's not very high in there though, just a factory worker barely making enough to feed himself, my mother and me. My mom works for blok, but not as a laborer. She still gets the same pay, close to nothing. My mother and my father are very alike and very different. My mother and my father are kind, honest, hard working, you know, human. The only difference is the loop.

My father has one, my mother doesn't. She is disgusted by the games those bastards LaBerge and Veego play. Everyone loves a good game. Except when the cost of losing is your life. But still, people play. It isn't by their own free will. No one would enter the games if asked, so they watch you, see if your talented enough, if so, start writing your will because once the gates close. They stay closed till you die. It's a cycle of death for profit all for blok. I hate blok, and I think I'm not the only one.

It began for me when my father was at the game place. It used to be an arcade for when games were for fun and not for food. I was watching him play. My father was skilled at the game he was playing, betting some but not the ultimate price. His life. Watching behind me, I see the unbelievable. I see a man, no a kid wearing a challenger shirt. You know, a certain color and five diagonal black lines. Your name is the color of your shirt and I'm looking at challenger red. My dads loop began to shine green, he won some money.

My mother begins to cheer for him, hugging him, crying. A little more food on the table, a little coin in the pocket. The challenger looks confused by this, like he had never seen it before. Then I notice something, he didn't have a loop. Then some idiot put it back on for him. He looked scared as it locked onto his arm. Again, like it was foreign and unusual for him. This challenger is fairly dark skinned, like he was baking in the sun for awhile. He was rather husky, not ripped or anything, but noticeable. His hair was brown, and kinda long.

Then I heard something that sounded to familiar. The sound of someone losing. I knew what was happening next. I didn't want to look, but I had to. Turning around I saw a man with a yellow loop. Yellow meant you lose. Yellow meant doom. Yellow meant death, slavery, or both on most occasions. He was crying, then I saw a door open, I hate dados. I hate anything not human really.

They begin to take the man away, before they see him. The challenger. He seems confused, scared even. He let them get close, before he took one down, then bolted. I had never seen anyone attack a dado. Or blok in any way shape or form. He had done the impossible, and quite well too. After a minute, it seems like he got away, because they keep chasing him.

* * *

A few days later I find myself walking down the street. I hate crowds. But hey, that's part of life in Rune. Gotta get used to it. Either walk or get in the traffic jam, and hey, at least walking getting somewhere. The video screens turn on, and everything stops. It's game time. Time for some to shine, and others to whine. Some to cry, and others to die. This game event today is fun. Tock. One challenger, three flags, and three flying metal balls. Gotta love it.

When the game starts after LaBerge's stupid rhyme, the light shines on our competitor. It was challenger red. Couldn't run forever. He seems nervous. Hell I would be. Tock is dangerous. Giant metal ball, that after a bit become spinning blades. Times that by three and you got a fun game filled with blood, gore, and missing body parts.

The buzzer goes off, alerting betting is over and second later, the game starts. Badly. Red gets hits after three steps. Game over already it looks like. He gets up, almost gets to flag, then get drilled in the back. Ouch. He's down but not out. Soon, he does something pretty smart. He takes something to his advantage, the chains of the tocks. He rides them, gets the flags, and wins. I look around me and see more yellow than green.

A lot of people are going to die. Or live in slavery. Or both. Usually both. I keep walking and get home where a surprise is in store for me. My father lost. Not just a few dollars, the ultimate bet. My father is one other thing as well. I think it was better to say this now. He was also a coward. He substituted me for him. Next stop, tarz. Next stop death.

* * *

I arrive at the place almost a week later. A train station to take me to hell on Quillan. My mother cried her eyes out when the dados took me on a bus with other losers. I glare at my father as I leave. Coward. Sending a child to go there. I was ten. Ten years old and yet he was going to kill me to save himself. I hope he loses again, just to see if he'll send my mother. I want to see how far his cowardness goes.

I wait in line to go to tarz. They're tagging us now. So if we try to run we can't. Tracking devices are fun. Other children are around me. One kid is about six, another younger. Adults who have accepted this are here. Looking around I see people getting tagged, shoved onto buses, and being shipped away. Then I look above me, and I can't believe what I see. Challenger red. He's not in his challenger shirt, but he's there. He's with someone I've seen before, with the trusties. Nevva Winter. I know her, she's the assistant.

That gave me hope. If he could escape the games, maybe I could escape this. Looking around once more, I see dado's at all places, except the tracks. That's my best shot. So I cross my fingers, give red another look, and bolt. Run faster than I ever thought I could. Not turning back. I don't get halfway without hearing the dado's behind me. But I keep running, and jump into the tunnel. I'm going to escape, or die trying.


	2. Personal invite

I take off down the tracks. It seems like a pointless action. To do so I have crawl under a fence. To be honest, I was surprised I made it that far. Jumping into the tunnel blind, because to be honest, I don't know where it leads. Hell for all I know, I could be running all the way to tarz. But I shake off that idea. Let's just hope not.

I hear the dado's behind me. It's only a matter of time before they catch me. They run twice as fast as any human, so I don't think running will help much. Then again neither is worrying before I get caught. Going as fast as my legs would take me, I look over my shoulder and then wish I didn't. The first dado is ten feet behind already. I start to go fast than I thought I could.

Suddenly one of the dado's runs in front of me. I stop then turn around, only to bump into the other one. Game over. I step back and press my back against the wall. Then I heard it. The train. Suddenly I realized pressing my back against the wall was the best thing I could do. The dado's seem a little more occupied with me to notice. Before they or I know it, I heard the sound of metal on metal crash, followed by a strong gust of wind.

I thought I had died. As I stood there with my eyes pressed shut, I actually thought the train had flattened me. Then I opened my eyes. I began to touch myself, the hip, the stomach the chest, then my face. Making sure it wall all still there.

" I'm alive," I said surprised. Then I look down the tunnel and see the train docked at the station, so decide to run the other way.

* * *

So far I had escaped on pure luck. I walked through the tunnel for several hours before I actually reached something that was different. I saw light. Turning my walk into a jog I reach the light and have to shield my eyes because they aren't adjusted to the intensity of the sun. Then I observe my current area. I'm in the middle of a desert. Everywhere I look, I see hard, dry ground. To the east I see Rune city. I'm a few miles away from it.

Then from behind me, I hear something. It was a train. Thinking quickly I looked around and see the opening I came out of was built through a hill. So I climb up and wait for the train to come out from under me. When it does, it isn't a passenger train as I thought it would be. It was a supply train. I see dado's on the train, so I duck lower to avoid detection.

Then suddenly the train stopped. Trains don't normally stop. Looking from my hill I see that a car is parked on the tracks and the engineer stopped the train. He stepped out to examine the car and when he did I heard something that sounded like _fum._ A moment later the engineer went flying back and belly flopped on the ground, out cold. Then the unbelievable happened. The train was attacked.

From the ground I saw at least a dozen people, men and women appear from the ground covered in clothing the same color as the ground. The dado's tried to fight back, taking out two of the attackers before they were stabbed with black rods. For some reason the rods tore right through them. All the dado's fell in less than a minute as the attackers helped the people who were hit. It was over.

Looking to my left I see several trucks begin to drive toward the fight scene. They stopped next to the train as the attackers began to unload the trains and load the trucks. It looks like they were loading all kinds of supplies. Food, clothing, weapons. I watch as they loaded the trucks and were about to leave. Before someone saw me. It was one of the women. I'm not sure if she saw me or heard a noise, but either way she knew they weren't alone.

" Come out!" She shouted toward me. Slowly I raised my head up to look at her. She carrying one of the golden guns I always see the dados carry. She lifted it up and fired. _Fum!_ The dirt in front of me shot up as I ducked back down. She wasn't trying to talk to me, she wanted me in the open so she could shoot me.

" Don't shoot!" I shouted. She lowered her weapon because the voice sounded innocent. A child's voice. My voice.

" Who are you?" She shouted back.

" My name is Skear. I'm just a kid, don't shoot," I respond quicky, so not to aggravate her.

" Come out. I won't fire," She said softly as if to insure me.

" Yeah right. I'm a quick learner," I shouted back. Then a moment later I heard something land next to me. It was a golden gun. I look up and see she's unarmed. She threw her gun at me I pick it up then stand up.

" Now do you believe me?" She asked. I gingerly walk over then stop in front of her. " What are you doing out here?" She asked me softly again.

" I ran away, " I said. " I was going to tarz, so I ran." The woman looked at some of the people in her group then back at me.

" How?" she asked. I point at the tunnel. " Oh, you ran through the tunnel. Smart. So, Skear was it?" she asked me. I nodded. " Wanna come with us. We're part of the revival." She said to me. Strange. I've been hearing more about something call the revival for a few quads. I never thought it existed till now.

" Do I have to?" I asked her. She smiled then walked over to me.

" Skear. Surely you hate blok." I nodded. What doesn't. " We're going to bring it down. We need everyone we can use to help. So I'm asking you personally to join us. You may be young, but I'll find a way for you to help us." Now it was my turn to answer. I wasn't sure.

" What if I don't?" I asked her.

" Look around you. You have endless desert or Rune. Either way you go, you die. Come with us, you'll get to live, and give people the same opportunity. What do you say?" She asked, then reached out with her hand. I look at her hand then at the Rune. It was a fairly easy answer. Life or death. I chose life.

" I'll go with you," I answered. The woman smiled then began to walk toward the truck.

" By the way, my name is Tylee Magna. And welcome to the revival."


	3. The Mall

After that moment in the middle of nowhere Tylee and her group led me back toward the city. I learned that day to support the revival they had to cut off BLOK's supplies. It was a win/win situation for us. We get supplies, they don't. The trucks stopped in a area of the city I don't recognize. I'm not surprised I don't recognize it, I don't travel much.

The people in the trucks quickly unloaded them into a building that led down a flight of stairs. It was a little before this point I was blindfolded. They seriously expected me to remember where this was. Can't be too carful I suppose. I was slowly lead down several flights of stairs and then they pulled the blindfold off me. What I saw I never have before.

It was a large underground building. I was standing in the center of it. It was two story with rooms close to each other. Most of the rooms had windows, and they had several items that I haven't seen. Colorful shirts, toys, and several other things were place at the window, as if they were being advertised.

" Where are we?" I ask allowed, not sure who to ask.

" This is a mall. Before BLOK took control of the world, people shopped in these places. They bought, food, clothing, books, music, lots of things," Tylee said to me.

" Why is it, abandoned?" I asked.

" Because Skear, they don't want people to know how the world once was," Tylee said to me then walked forward. " They don't want us to know it was once alive."

" Can I look around?" I asked, I'm ten, so of course of I'm curious.

" Of course. I need to go meet some people. You can explore. Follow orders, I'll be back soon, okay?" She asked me sweetly. Even my own mother isn't as affectionate as her. It was like she completely changed personalities when she was talking to me.

" Okay," I say with a nod and she walks up the stairs.

" She likes children," one of the women in the group said to me. " She thinks they don't deserve the lives they're given at birth, so she seeks to change that."

" Why?" I asked.

" Because she lost her's," the woman said to me then walked toward one of the stores. I look around me and see a clothing store so walk that way. Colors I never thought were real were in this room. Blue, green, purple, yellow, so many more. I have only seen those colors on the challengers.

I leave that store and go to another. What I walk into isn't a store. I see people in the room looking at maps on the walls and names on chalkboards that are being added and taken off. Stacked on the walls of the rooms are more of the golden guns and those black rods I saw at the raid. The rods interest me. I walk over to them and reach out to grab one.

" Don't touch that!" One of the men in the room shouts at me. I leave it alone.

" Sorry," I say to him. The man smiled and walks over.

" It's okay," he says then picks up one of the rods. He hands it to me and I hold it. It doesn't seem so special, but somehow it works wonders on dados. " Try swinging it," he says to me. I swing it and then I see a trail of electricity arch off of it.

" Whoa," is all I could say. I touch the tip and feel nothing.

" It only hurts the metal the dados are made of," the man explains. He takes the rod back and places it with the others. " Do some more exploring." I nod and start to look for the next store.

* * *

I explore for a few more hours before I hear some people talking. Walking in that direction I walk out of an store that was filled with some type of candy and looked at the people. I see Tylee was back, and had brought a few more people. Challenger red among them and a woman who I see with the trusties on the screen. Nevva Winter.

I was about to walk over to them, before I heard some glass shatter from above. _Fum, fum fum, fum._ The dados are attacking. I'm ten, what am I going to do. I run, I run my ass off. Running down the hall I hear another _fum_ and a man flew out of a store. It was the man who showed me the rods. Picking up his rod I peek around into the store and look at the dado. _Fum._ The wall next to my ear is hit and my ear starts ringing.

I run again, taking the rod with me. Turning around I see the dado picking up the man and about to take him away. If I didn't have a conscious, I'd of left him. Then I hear the sound of metal being torn then look on the far side and see challenger red fighting a few of them by himself. He's good.

Gripping the rod I carefully ran after the dados then before it turned around I stabbed it in the back. A few sparks flew off him, but he didn't fall like when challenger red hit them. The dado spun around and back handed me into a store, through a window no less. I start to cry because it hurts so much, but I can't scream in pain because it hurts so much.

Then I felt a hand grab mine and see Tylee behind me. She placed a finger to her lips and grabbed the rod. In less than ten seconds she took out the other dado, then another. I had never really seen fighting before, it's usually banned, but she seemed good at it. Like she knew what she was doing.

Then it was over. All of the dado's were gone, but so was Tylee. I couldn't move, I couldn't really breathe, so I close my eyes and let sleep take me.


	4. A special place

I hate it when I wake up and I'm in pain. Like I'd rather stay asleep forever instead of wake up this way. I opened my eyes, and my head hurt like someone had been hitting it. My body ached, and my breathing was slow. I didn't remember much, or how long I had been out for.

" Your up," I hear a voice say. I turn my head and see Tylee crouching next to me. " How do you feel?"

" Not too good," I answered. I try to move, but it hurts. I groan and stop trying.

" Stay down Skear, your pretty banged up. We fought them off, don't worry. No one was captured or killed. We're all fine for the most part."

" What happened?" I asked, not exactly sure.

" You got thrown through a window. You tried to stop a dado, didn't go over too well," she said with a sad chuckle. She grabbed a cup of water and tilted it near my head. I drank some then she placed it back down.

" What do I do?" I asked.

" Well, for now you rest. I'll be back soon. I'm taking challenger red to somewhere special," she said then walked away. I place my head back on the pillow, then closed my eyes. Wondering in my dream, what the someplace special was.

----------------------------------

I wasn't sure when I opened my eyes again, but when I did I felt better. I knew right away I'd been asleep for a long time. Possibly days. I moved the blanket I was covered in off my body then slid my way out. What I felt was strange, but I knew what it was. My back was covered in bandages. My guess was that the glass cut my back.

I look around, and notice I'm still in the mall. Though I can't say for certain which part it was. There were other people laying around me. I was in a hospital, or just a place for the revivers to get some rest. I stood up, and began to walk toward the exit of this room. Looking around the empty mall, I heard some activity to my left so decided to investigate.

A minute later I stepped into the room that had all of the weapons it. The man who showed me the black rods was in the room organizing stuff. He seemed fine, even though the last time I saw him he was unconscious.

" Hey, look who decided to join the living," he said to me. He smiled then placed a few golden guns on the shelves.

" Where's Tylee?" I asked.

" She's with Mr. Pop," He said to me then continued his work.

" Mr. Pop," I asked. Another thing about the revival I don't know.

" Never meet the guy myself. Few have. I've been here for three quads and I've never meet him." he said to me then stopped placing guns on the shelves.

" Can I ask why challenger red was here?" I asked him. Which is ironic because not like I really gave him an option.

" We rescued him. We want his help. I'm not sure what Tylee what's from him, but I know this might end well," he said to me. Everyone seemed like something big was about to happen. Whatever it was, I wasn't sure I wanted to be involved. Because at his point all that did was send me through a window head first.

" Hey kid," A woman said to me from the door. I turn around and look at her. It was the woman who told me about Tylee. About what happened to her.

" Me?" I asked. That was a dumb question.

" Yes you. Pack up, we're leaving," she said to me.

" Where are we going?" I asked. She smiled at me.

" Your going to see Mr. Pop," she said to me, then walked out of the room.

" What!" The man said aloud. " You've been here for less than a week and your already going to see Mr. Pop. What the hell!" he shouted at me. I took a step back, the left the room.

------------------------------------------

Less than an hour later I'm blindfolded and placed into the back of a truck again. It seemed like forever the distance we drove. I had no idea where I was going. Or if I'd even get back. At this point it wasn't like I had a whole lot of options. Whoever this Mr. Pop guy was, he certainly was popular.

I'd been hearing about that for some time. A man named Mr. Pop. The leader of the revivers. Seems strange that I've been here for less than a day, or at least I was only conscious for that long, but still I was already seeing him. I had to wait, blind and uncertain to see what Tylee had in store for me.

After what seemed like several hours the back of the truck opened and the sunlight was bleeding through the blindfold. A moment later the blindfold was pulled off my face and the sun hit my eyes. I was led off the truck and underground. Apparently we never arrived at the surface, but I see an elevator. I get gestured to walk towards it. Following a few others who are going to the doors, they opened and I step into a much cooler room. When I look in the room, I stop where I stand.

This room was huge. Huge I don't think would even cover it. There were paintings, sculptures, books, clothes. There was bins of music lined up for seemingly miles. It was so colorful. Colors I didn't know I could see where here. There wasn't a spot of grey, the color I was used to.

Tylee is the first person I see. She walked over to me and looked at the room.

" The entire history of Quillan is in this room. It's music. It's art. What it used to be, and what blok took away from us. It's creativity, it's inspiration. It's hope." Tylee said to me, as if she really enjoyed this stuff. To be honest, so did I.

" Can I look around?" I asked.

" By all means," Tylee said to me, as if she wanted me to. I walk around the room and see all of the art, the books, everything that has once had meaning. What still should. What blok was trying to take away from us.

That was probably when I realized why the revivers where fighting. If they won, imagination would fill this world again. Creativity, free will, thinking. People wouldn't be confined to their own ideas. There would be color, so much color it'd be hard to find what to wear everyday. There would be music, and dancing, and celebrations every night. People would smile. Life would return.

Right then, as I scanned the shelves of this room. Looked at every thing, as if I was supposed to see it. I found hope. What we lacked in power, we sure as hell made up in determination. They had nothing to lose, and neither did I. As I stood there, looking at the room I had made up my mind. I was now a reviver.


	5. The revivers strike

Hope was something I never knew existed. It was the faintest idea in the people of Quillan. An idea so ridicules, it really wasn't even a word anymore. It was an entirely new concept to me. Waking up in the morning and wondering what I want to do, not what I have to. I got comfortable with it fast. Everyday, was a new day.

For the next several days I walked around the warehouse famously called Mr. Pop. It was a cover name. While the dados thought they were looking for a person, the entire time it was actually a warehouse full of salvaged history. I read books, listened to music, examined the art. Before Tylee left after the first day she told me to read a book. One book in particular.

Tylee handed me the book and I looked at its cover. It was a plain book with a hard black cover. On the cover and spine was written, " Quillan History."

" Read this. The best way to know how to build a new world, is to learn from the past and know what not to repeat. Blok wants us to think, this is the way things have always been. After you read this, tell this story to three people. They will in turn, tell it to three more people. Soon, everyone will know the truth," Tylee said to me.

Tylee smiled at me then walked to the front of the warehouse. I watched her get into the elevator and wave at me. She told me she'd be back in a few days and that I should just explore the place. So I did. By the time she came back to pick me up, I had finished nearly a quarter of the book she told me to read. Quillan was so fascinating I couldn't put it down.

Quillan's modern civilization went back thousands of quads. People gathered and formed villages, that became towns, that became cities, that became countries. Quillan grew at an amazing rate to reach where it was today. The book I was reading was written nearly forty years before Blok rose to complete power. One page in the book was given to blok.

" _Currently the largest commercial enterprise on the planet, Blok makes just about everything. From shirts to shoes, cars to busses, dados, dinner plates, and many more. Growing faster than any company in history it started as the humblest of companies. Lowering their prices to beat competitors Blok is predicted to be the only commercial enterprise in the next ten quads..._" I read from it.

I slammed the book shut and softy tossed it to the ground next to my bed. Mr. Pop was always under guard. God forbid the dados found it. Then that made me realize. What if they did? Suddenly I felt alone, scared, and helpless. Just like at the dado attack in the mall. I didn't sleep at all that night.

* * *

Tylee came back about three days later. I was in the middle of listening to music when she came up from behind me. I heard her humming the song behind me so I turned around and looked at her. She smiled back at me then sat next to me on the couch I was sitting on. Turning off the music I looked at her.

" Where have you been?" I asked her.

" Getting things ready. Challenger red has agreed to help us and we'll be training him for the next few weeks to make sure he's ready for the tournament," Tylee answered. I nod then look at the floor. For some reason she knew something was bothering me.

" What is it?" She asked me. I sigh then look back at her.

" I want to learn how to fight," I said to her. Tylee looked at me shocked. " Just hear me out. Back at the mall I nearly died because I couldn't defend myself. Someone can't always be there for me, I think it'll help if I can do it myself for a change."

Tylee stood up off the couch then looked me over. " You're a little short but you'll grow. Kinda muscular for a little kid..." She said before I interrupted.

" I'm not little," I said to her. She smiled she shook her head.

" Yes you are. I think you'll do alright in a fight. You've proven you have the guts to strike a dado, but I can teach you technique. Where to strike, how to strike, when to strike I can teach you. But, my training won't be a playground. Only do this if you think you can handle this."

I looked her in the eye and began to think. In only a few short days I'd become a new person all together. Already I was stronger, smarter, and had an entirely new outlook on life. Things people take a lifetime to develop I achieved in less than a week. If this training was just another change, then I'd do it.

" I can handle it," I said to her. " When do we start?" Tylee smiled then turned the music back on.

" Tomorrow when we get back," She said then leaned over toward me. I had a strange felling about her. I felt comfortable. She was already like a mother to me. More motherly than my actual mother. I leaned against her as well as the music kept playing.

* * *

Gathering my things in a bag, including the book, Tylee took me back to the mall. My training started right away. Because I was so young she gave me a break. I trained every other day. On the days I wasn't training, I was watching challenger red train. His determination was driving all of us. I wasn't told the plan yet, but what ever it was it was going to be huge.

Tylee started me off with the basics. She wanted me more in shape before I got hands on training with the black staffs. No matter the day I was to run a few laps around the mall, do push ups, basically build my strength and endurance. I wasn't alone too. New recruits in the Revival joined me. Older men and women, some in their thirties, some not much older than me.

When Tylee thought we were properly conditioned, we were given staffs to train with. She taught us the fundamentals of stance, posture, reaction time, swing, the need to now basics. I was told the week spot on the dado was just below the chest plate. We were taught how to stab them without getting hit, and throwing them like javelins to disable then from a safe distance.

I learned fast. Though I wasn't eager to go find out if I was ready to fight or not. Nearly three weeks past and the training stopped. Tylee had to focus on getting challenger red ready for his reappearance. That day I just spent time in the mall swinging a black staff around like I was fighting someone. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in confronting a dado. It'd be fun to spear the bastard who sent me through that window.

* * *

It was all over the screens in Rune city. Challenger reds return. It was unheard of. Sure a challenger had escaped once or twice, but they never returned willingly. He walked straight through the front doors of LaBerge and Veego castle. They put a loop back on him and then broadcasted it throughout room. The tournament was going to commence as planned.

The next day Tylee ordered me to stay in the mall. She left with a group of people, almost all of the revivers. Some stayed behind to guard the mall and the people in it. Today something big was going to happen. The tournament was today. Challenger red came on and told the crowd of people what Tylee had instructed. Not to bet.

The clowns tried to stop it, but it was too late. The order was out, and the people cheered. Then he added a nice touch to his speech. The signal for the revivers. The crowd cheered louder. During the tournament as challenger red fought challenger green, the revivers struck. The plan was in motion. Not a single bet was done, and with the people on their side, the revivers could do it. Blok would fall today.

Stepping into the command room I heard a few men on radios giving our people information. Scouts told them where dados were coming from and the revivers attacked or retreated until more people arrived. The people in the streets fought back as well. Blok stores were raided and destroyed, burned down in triumphant screams. The dados were overwhelmed.

" We need reinforcements," A female voice shouted from the radio. The man looked at the map, trying to find the closest people.

" No one's around you for blocks. It'll be awhile before anyone can help Tylee," the man said aloud. My ears pricked up. I ran over to the mop and saw where Tylee was. I was close enough if I had a car. Then I remembered Tylee gave me a lesson in the carts to drive around the mall. Not much for speed but it was faster than running.

I looked at my staff then ran for the cart. Sitting in the drivers seat I could barely reached the pedal but I could none the less. Started the cart I drove out of the mall with a few people yelling at me. I didn't care. Tylee needed my help and fast.


	6. Pinned down

The cart I had taken sped through the abandoned mall at about twice my highest running speed. The store window fly by me like small streaks. Looking left I see my reflection for brief moments in the glass. The wind is blowing my hair behind my head, and my eyes are locked and focused. Turning straight I steered the cart up a ramp to bring me to the surface.

Taking a sharp left I steered it straight toward a turn. Taking a right, then a left I kept it speeding, only slowing down to make turns. Finally I came to a dead end and stopped the cart. I had reached the doors to the surface.

Exiting the cart I ran to the door and grabbed the handle. Pulling with everything I had the door wouldn't budge. Resting against the door for a moment I start to try again and this time it starts to inch open. A space wide enough for my hands opens so I reach through and pull from the other side of the door to give me more leverage to pry it open. Soon the space was large enough for my body to slip out.

I exit the underground and start to push from the outside. Putting my shoulder into it the door opens faster than when I was pulling. Pushing with all of my strength the door opened. Soon the opening was large enough for the cart to pass. Sitting back in the cart I drive it out and onto the street.

Speeding out of the alley I arrived in I turn the cart and stop. The city of Rune has become a war zone. Car were stopped in the street, some were smashed and shattered. Fired were erupting from buildings, smoke drifted into the sky. Part of dados were sprawled on the ground, glass from the buildings broken into and demolished turned the street into a razor sharp mine field.

I started to drive again, trying to avoid the glass on the ground. It shatters under the tired when I don't miss the glass. Coming to a street intersection I looked left and saw destruction, looking right I saw seven revivers pinned down behind stalled cars and rubble by two dozen dados who were opening fire.

The sound of _fum_ was so loud even from the distance I was it still stung my ears. Gripping my staff I locked eyes with the battle. Scanning it I see a reviver running for better cover. A dado fired at him and missed when the reviver ducked, the shot shattering a car window and the glass rained down on him. A second reviver threw his staff like a spear and impaled the dado in the chest, the staff jutting through his back. The dado crashed to the ground, giving the running reviver his chance to get more cover.

The fight continued as I hit the accelerator of the cart and sped along. I swerved around cars and rubble as I charged. The left front tire was blown from the glass shards and I held the wheel steady. Swerving now the cart scratches other cars as I pulled the wheel away and continued to try to keep it even.

Three dados turned around and saw me barreling toward them. Lifting up their golden pistols they all shot at me at the same time. One brushes my ear, one misses completely, and the last hit the seat next to mine. They fire again and one hits the cart making me swerve, another hits the staff out of my hand. The last one strikes the left rear tire and makes the cart swerve dramatically.

Now the cart is moving sideways and I can feel it starting to tip. Diving out just in time I hit the ground left foot first and bounce into a stopped cars rear. I feel the air leave my lungs as I fall to the ground writhing. The cart tipped and started to roll, hitting all three of the attacking dados and five of the other ones. The cart lands on its side, surrounded by damaged and destroyed dados.

Using the car as a crutch I pulled myself up and looked at the wreck. The dados that were hit started to get up, some with missing parts , others just dented. I feel a hand grasp my shoulder, I turn and see Tylee next to me gripping a black rod.

" Get down," she said then hurled the rod like a spear. She grabbed me and pushed me behind the car more. Wrapping me with her own body she cover me from what was about the happen.

The rod stabbed the battery pack on the belly of the cart. The cart began to make a loud hissing sound. The hissing stopped and was replaced by solid beeping. From over Tylee's shoulder I see the revivers running away from the wreck. Only the dados seemed unaware. Tylee squeezed me harder when the beeping stopped.

The cart exploded. Every dado was blown up or way. Glass that wasn't already shattered broke into a million pieces on buildings and cars. Blue flames erupted from the cart and smoke began to lift into the air. Debris fell around me, the flaming head of a dado crashed onto the hood of the car I was hiding behind.

Tylee let me go then stood up to see the damage. Every dado in the area was destroyed. The once pinned revivers came out of hiding, walking through the thin layer of black smog. Two were being crutched by another and the all gathered around Tylee. One of the men nodded at me, apparently saying thanks.

" I told you to stay underground," she said to me. I took a scared step back but don't look away from her. She stared at mem then sighed.

" But, you did just save everyone so I can't be too mad," Tylee said then looked at everyone. " What's your status?"

" Four missing, two injured," a woman said to her. Tylee began to think then heard something. The sound of loud footsteps in unison from all directions.

" Move out," Tylee said then started to run off to the intersection. A ground of dados appeared from both sides and began to march towards them. Turning left she saw more coming from the far street. We were pinned between at least three dozen.

" The alley," Tylee said then started to run. The others followed as the sound of _fum_ appeared. I heard a grunt and a man hit the wall of the alley just as he was crossing it. The shot only clipped him so he was still conscious. Someone crutched him and we all started to move again . The alley ended into the next street where Tylee took a left then kept running.

Tylee was fast, making keeping up with her difficult. My tiny little legs started to burn from the effort. We came to an intersection and see dados to out right so started to run left. We run down the street before we see more dados. Taking a left into an alley Tylee quickly ducked under a dados arm which was waiting behind the wall. A reviver struck it with a rod then we all kept moving.

At the end of the alley Tylee faced her right then shouted, " Down!" I rounded the corner as she said it and see about a dozen dados standing ready. I dove behind the car the Tylee slid behind and landed next to her. At the moment a stopped car was our only shelter.

Three of the revivers crossed the corner before they knew what Tylee meant. One behind crutch among the four. All of the dados fired, and all four were hit and sent sprawling to the ground unconscious. The other four skidded to a stop before they stepped into the crossfire. One looked around the corner then leaned back when one fired, the shot hitting the brick of the wall. A moment later the dados from the other street rounded the corner.

The other four were hit from behind before they even turned around to know what hit them. One was sent behind the car and crashed to the next next to me. Tylee looked up over the car then ducked down when she heard fum. The blasts of the guns slammed against the car, and the three other dados in the alley held their guns up to aim. They all fired the shots hitting the car, the ground next to my left foot. And one shot passed Tylee head, her hair blowing back. The dados fired at the car again, blowing out the glass.

Tylee looked down at her palm and saw a manhole under us. Moving off the manhole she grabbed the rim of the cap them began to pull, removing it from the ground. The dados in the alley fired again, two missing the third hitting the cap and knocking it into Tylee's stomach the hit the car.

Tylee's back hit the ground hard. The cap rolled on it's edge for a few seconds before it tipped over. I forgot about the dados and kneeled down next to her. Tylee looked up at me then smiled. Looking around me she saw the dados reading to fire again. She pulled herself off the ground then wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly.

" Don't worry about me. Run," she whispered into my ear. Then she pushed me back and I fell into the manhole. I hear several _fum_ noises, Tylee grunt then her body hit the ground.

" Tylee!" I shouted before I splashed into the water. It was shallow so I hit the bottom of the water with my back hard. Surfacing I groan from the pain in my back then looked up at the hole. I see shadows pass by the light of the hole. Seeing a narrow walking space between the wall and water I climb up then took a deep breath. Looking up at the hole I sigh then pull myself to my feet and then face the dark tunnel ahead of me. Looking at the hole once more I start running into the darkness.


	7. A glimps of hope

I think I was in the sewer for several hours. Above me I heard the revolution as I kept walking. Scared to go to the surface, scared to get involved in another fight like the one I barely escaped from. If only we all were as lucky. All I knew at this point was that I was alone, and something had to have happened to Tylee. For hours I came across ladders that led back to the surface, but everytime I reached a new one, I could still hear it. It was everywhere. Rune had become a warzone, and I was sure there were plenty of casualties.

Not sure exactly when but the sound above me begant to change. In it's beginings it was loud, and violent. Now, it was startig to fade to silence. The ravage of war above me thinned to nothing. It was eerie now, because of how quiet it had gotten. The next ladder I came to I stopped at. Swallowing hard I grabbed the ladder and started to proceed up. I should have stayed down.

I pushed the cap of the manhole up and off and slid it to the side. Grabbing the edge of the ground I pulled my body to the surface then looked around. It was devastating. Rubble from buildings, parts from dados, glass from windows, blood from injuries stained the ground around me. Several cars were tipped over, another crashed into a building that was looted. A dead man was laying on the ground, with no apparent injury, except for the blood around his body, but I didn't find it where it came from. I was sick enough at what my eyes layed on. Small fires were scattered about, I saw another body, a light pole is tipped over, I saw another body only this time it's a kid no older than me, another body, another body, another body. I was surrounded by the dead.

Don't really remember, much of that moment was a blur. Soon I was on my knees crying. I had a bad feeling we didn't win with casualties like these. Bodies recklessly abandoned to rot and fester in the streets of a battle scarred city. My crying was so powerful I was heeving, tears pouring to ground below my head. I didn't even here the metal footsteps coming from behind me. It wasn't until the dado was standing over me, reaching with its cold lifeless hand that I realized it was there. I let it grab me.

" Do not resist," the dado said to me coldly and lifelessly. I just stared at it, waiting for it to kill me like everyone else. " Will you comply?" I remained quiet.

" Put him down," A voice said from behind the dado. The dado turned around but didn't put me down. Behind him was a man who was injuried from fighting, but still holding his own well. Behind him were several over men and women ready to fight.

" Surrender or force will be-," was about as far as it got before a black rod was thrown threw its head. Its knees buckled before it fell to the ground. I landed on top of the dado and had to grab its hand to make it let go of me. Once I managed to wiggle free I tried to ran but one of the people grabbed me.

" Calm down, we're not one of them," The woman who grabbed me said to me. Her grip was rough and hard so I jerked my arm away quickly, only making it hurt more. " Calm down."

" Let him go, if he wants to run, let him run," a man said to her. She sighed then let my arm go the same time I jerked away. So I fell back and landed in a pool of glass. My arms were sliced up nice but I didn't cry from that, I just got up and began to pick the glass out of my wounds.

" Why are you out here," the man who threw the rod asked.

I take a deep breath to keep from crying but I managed to mumble something. " They got her," I said to them.

" What, got who? Who got who?"

" The dados, they took Tylee," I said to them. I heard two of them gasp and a few others talk amounst themselves.

" Tylee Magna?" The man asked me. I nod then he sighed and kicked a head of a dado across the ground. " Dammit! Where, when!?" The man shouted at me. I flinched backward and the woman who grabbed me stepped in between us.

" He's just a kid, don't yell at him," The woman said then turned and faced me. " What happened to her?"

" They shot her with those golden things, and I don't remember much after that. All I know was she was alone, and surrounded."

" They got her. Son of a bitch," The man said aloud then kicked another item across the ground. " We need to head back before more of them show up."

" Agreed," the woman said then reach out her hand toward me. " Come on, if you want to be safe follow us." I nod then start to walk with them back to the base.

* * *

I hate it when my worse fears come true. We lost. At first everything seemed right. Until they found it, Mr. Pop that is. Burned everything, not even a page of one book is left. Not only that, they filmed it, and sent that image all throughout Quillan. The riot stopped in its track at one glance of a screen. A picture says a thousand words. They had a whole god damn movie. And it was saying one thing in a million differnet ways. Game over.

With no hope nothing can ever be accomplished. As I read in that book Tylee told me to read, people in history have won entire wars, built great civilizations on nothing but a strand of hope. A slight flicker of motivation. Now, we had nothing. No hope, no chance, no motivation, no dream, no power, no inspiration, no will to fight. The moment that video hit the screens it was over. Mr. Pop was all we had. Kill one of use we come back stronger, kill the head of the snake the rest of the snake dies with it. That was no different.

I did find out if Tylee was alive or not. She was, but it was more like death row. She had been caught and added as a challenger. Challenger green, to replace the red had beaten in combat. Heard it was one hell of a fight too. His was an empty win, he gave us a little push to break the barrier of hope, but in one second it was stripped away before everyone's eyes. Soon after all of this news was released I sat in a corner and cried.

* * *

Something amazing actually happened later that week. About ten days later a child in the abandoned underground came up to me. A few more children followed him. I was in the corner I practically lived in by then, looked at the palms of my hands. The little boy nudged me in the arm and looked at me sadly. He was sad because everyone else was sad. Though he wasn't old enough to fully understand why. He just stared at me with these big curious eyes.

" Do you think we still have hope?" the little boy asked me. What a dumb question to ask at this point. Hope is not even a word in my dictionary. But I didn't say no. I didn't say anything. He walked away from me with his friends to bother someone else. What he said to me stired my emotions so bad I got up out of my corner, grabbed the bag Tylee gave me at Mr. Pop and threw it against a wall. I was breathing deep now, panting from anger, frustration, sadness. It all raged into one giant emotion that settled when I saw it.

At first I thought I was dreaming. I wasn't. It was was really there. A book was in my bag that I had just thrown at the wall. It was thrown from the bag and sat on the ground, with its spin facing me. Slowly I walked over and picked up the book with both hands. I read it's cover aloud to myself.

' The history of Quillan.' The last remnant of Mr. Pop. The last small bit of hope of the entire civilazation was in my hands. A simple book, with simple pages, written in simple ink, telling a simple story, but fueling a very complicated cause. And somehow it fueled me. Tylee told me to do something for her one day. I pulled that memory from my subconscious and heard it play in my mind.

" _Read this. The best way to know how to build a new world, is to learn from the past and know what not to repeat. Blok wants us to think, this is the way things have always been. After you read this, tell this story to three people. They will in turn, tell it to three more people. Soon, everyone will know the truth," _Tylee had said to me.

I held the book in my hands then looked around me. I saw the little boy with his two friends. He looks over at me and I gesture for him to come over to me. After a second he looks at his friends and they all walk over and sit around me.

" There's always hope," I said to him for starters. " If you never let it die, it never will have to. Hope isn't just an item, or a cause. It's what people do. What we did was hope, we had hope, we used it, we lost some, but we're still here to try again. You only lose hope when you fail, and don't learn from it. If you don't try again with more knowledge of what you hope for. Never let it slip through your fingers."

The boy and his friends smiled and looked at each other. I smiled to then grabbed the book I had layed next to me. They eyed the book and awed.

" Is that.."

" It is. From the remains of Mr. Pop itself. Blok took things away from us. Anything that made us think, be individuals, have the will power to fight back. They can never take our hope though. Want to hear a story?" All of the children nodded at me.

" What about?"

" Everything that ever was in this world. And everything it will be, if you never give up hope."

**That's the end of the Pendragon back story. **


End file.
